Anthony Grant didn't like what he saw during a four-game losing skid. (The Associated Press)

THE WEEK THAT WAS

> Le'Bryan Nash scored 12 of Oklahoma State's final 17 points and 27 in all as the Cowboys enjoyed a court­storming upset of Missouri Wednesday.

> Another Big 12 show­down, another huge Iowa State upset. The Cyclones moved from gridiron spoiler to the darling of the hard­wood by stunning fifth­ranked Kansas 72-64 Satur­day. Must be something in the water in Ames.

> It took Davidson 10 Southern Conference games and one trip to the Pete Hanna Center to finally fal­ter, but falter Davidson did. Samford's 77-74 decision ended the Wildcats' 13-game league winning streak.

THE WEEK THAT WILL BE

> Two Big East beasts with great tradition tangle Wednesday, as defending national champ Connecti­cut and third-place George­town meet inside the belt­way.

> The only Ohio Valley Conference team within spitting distance of Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, visits the undefeated Racers Thursday. The odds of Murray State going through the regular season undefeated look better each day.

> Can't go a week with­out another Big 12 show­down. Kansas visits Mis­souri in prime time Saturday, a battle of Top 10 behemoths with Final Four aspirations.

HOOP TALK

"Has your wife ever cheated on you?"

-- N.C. State's Scott Wood, responding when reporters asked him how it felt to lose to North Carolina for the 11th straight time.

***

"And there's not a shred of evidence that they influenced Ryan's decision to attend UConn or that they intend to represent Ryan if he ever goes pro. The public also should know that the NCAA never told Tanesha and Ryan who made the accusations about them or told them the substance of the accusations so they could defend themselves."

"We're playing an entitled brand of basketball, and it's very frustrating as a coach."

-- Alabama's Anthony Grant, calling out his team after a fourth consecutive loss.

***

"It just showed that you can take a lot of hits, but you definitely get your turn to swing back."

-- Towson's Erique Gumbs, after the down-and-out program ended a 41-game losing streak against UNC Wilmington on Saturday.

TOP TEN

Top 10 things worth buzzing about over the weekend and in the days ahead:

1. How did Towson coach Pat Skerry fire up his team? Showing them film of Muhammad Ali's "rope-a­dope" boxing win over George Foreman. The message, of course, was . . .let me get back to you on this.

2. Bob Huggins has a future as a replay official. After seeing the replay of a controversial goaltending call against Syracuse, which cost West Virginia the game, Huggins implied refs missed the call. Huggins was right.

3. Good luck, Bobby Cremins. The salt-haired coaching veteran was supposed to make an appearance at the Pete Hanna Center tonight. Instead, College of Charleston arrives without him as Cremins focuses on his health.

4. Vanderbilt stopped Middle Tennessee's 12-game winning streak Saturday. Is the SEC really back if the SEC has to claim a victory over a Sun Belt team as a quality win?

5. Iowa State's turnaround has been keyed by Royce White, who got into legal trouble at Minnesota and turned down a Kentucky transfer because of his fear of flying. Here's hoping White can overcome his off-the-court problems, which include a sometimes­crippling anxiety disorder.

6. Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said that when the 6-foot-8 White takes over as point guard, as he does on occasion, it creates "the toughest matchup" in the Big 12.

7. On the mid-major front, St. Mary's is running away with the West Coast Conference. The Gaels lead Gonzaga by 2.5 games and just blasted newcomer BYU.

8. After starting Big East play with seven straight losses, Pittsburgh is on a roll with back-to-back wins over Providence and Georgetown. Too bad college basketball is stuck with that dang NCAA Tournament and doesn't have a BBVA Compass Bowl to which to send the Panthers.

9. Dayton isn't flying so high now. The team that defeated SEC members Alabama and Ole Miss early on has lost three of five, including to Atlantic 10 bottom feeder Rhode Island over the weekend.

10. Maybe that UConn visit to Georgetown won't be so hot after all. UConn lost its third straight game to drop to .500 in Big East play Saturday. Just about the spot the Huskies were in at this time a year ago.

Hmmm.

Doug Segrest's Second Look appears every Monday dur­ing the college football and basketball seasons. Check out Doug Segrest's blog at blog.al.com/segrest and par­ticipate in his live SEC chat Friday at 11 a.m. Write him at dsegrest@bhamnews.com